The Legend of the Guardian
by Schwan
Summary: It's been eighteen months since the Day of the Colossus, and Kuvira is resigned to spending the rest of her life in prison with a spirit that only she can see and hear. Meanwhile, Mako and Bolin find an ominous sign that that Red Lotus is back in action, and Korra and Asami's vacation is interrupted by a mysterious stranger claiming that everything is about to change forever.
1. On The Wall

Chapter 1

On The Wall

* * *

"_We are two sides of the same coin, you and I."_

* * *

"Here we are."

Asami looked up from the ground, taking in the landscape before her. It was a valley. A huge, twisted tree stood in the center of the valley, hallowed out. The North and South spirit portals were glowing pillars of light.

"What do you think?'

Asami glanced over at Korra. Her blue eyes reflected the light of the spirit portals and Asami had to repress a small smile. "It's beautiful," she assured her. "Just like the rest of the Spirit World."

Korra looked over at her and grinned, the lightest of blushes dusting her cheeks. "Come on," she said, grabbing Asami's hand. "I want to show you something."

She led Asami towards the center of the valley, stepping over streams and rows of rocks, taking her time. Despite how much time they'd already spent in the Spirit World, neither of them was eager for their vacation to be over for good.

They stopped at the base of the gnarled tree. "This is the Tree of Time," Korra explained. "Inside it is where I made that giant me Bolin was telling you about."

Asami smiled. "The one with all the sound effects?"

Korra laughed. "Yeah, that's the one." She gazed up at the branches and Asami saw a small, sad glint in her eyes. "This valley is where I fought Unalaq and Vaatu during Harmonic Convergence."

Asami squeezed her hand and Korra sent her a fleeting, grateful smile. Korra nodded her head up at the opening in the tree and started climbing up to it, tugging Asami up the roots. She sat sideway at the edge of the opening and Asami placed herself opposite of her, leaning back against the wood so she was facing the Avatar. The two of them gazed over the valley. To either side of them lay the Northern and Southern spirit portals.

"You know," Asami spoke. "We should probably go pretty soon. We told your dad we'd be to the tribe by tonight. If we don't leave soon, we won't get there before dark. He'll get worried."

"I know," Korra sighed. "I just…" She puffed out a breath. "I'm gonna miss this."

Asami bit her lip. "Me too."

"It doesn't help that we had to keep putting it off," Korra grumbled.

Asami suppressed a smile. She knew Korra was still upset about that. The two girls' vacation had been interrupted on several occasions, for months at a time. Asami had been needed in restoring Republic City and Korra in restoring the Earth Kingdom. That was what had caused their originally two-month vacation to stretch out for a year and a half. But now both the Earth Council and uptown Republic City were on their way to completion.

"But we still got to see so much," Asami reminded her. "Thank you Korra. This whole vacation…it was amazing. Even if we did have to take a break every now and then."

Korra didn't reply, and Asami looked across at her to see her staring out into the distance, her brow furrowed. Asami followed her gaze and felt her eyes widen. She and Korra both stood quickly.

Crowded at the edge of the valley were hundreds of spirits, all of them heading straight for the Tree of Time. When Asami looked to her left and right, she could see spirits coming in from all sides.

"Follow me," Korra murmured urgently to Asami. She followed without question as Korra stepped down the swollen roots of the tree and moved a hundred yards away. There they stopped. Korra grabbed Asami's hand, and though her body was wound tight, she stayed stock still as the wall of spirits surged past them and onto the Tree of Time. The spirits mobbed the tree, some of them frantically scratching the wood and other lying miserably beside it. A few of them paused to zip around Korra, making indistinguishable, panicked noises.

"It's happening again," Korra whispered to Asami. "This is the fifth time."

Asami swallowed hard, a feeling of déjà vu coming on. Korra was right. This had happened before, all in different places in the Spirit World. Spirits would crowd together in a panicked mob, as if they sensed a danger and were seeking strength in numbers. All throughout the Spirit World had been a slight sense of unease, like there was an invisible storm on the horizon. But Asami had never seen this many in one place before, and never in this bad of a state.

"It's getting worse." Asami voiced her thoughts.

"And it's only going to keep getting worse."

Korra and Asami both jumped and whirled towards the voice behind them, crouching into their battle stances upon seeing a the stranger behind them. It was a man who looked to be in his early thirties, with dark hair and a lean frame. He smiled disarmingly.

"Avatar Korra, right?" the man asked.

"Yes," Korra answered warily.

The stranger crooked a finger at Asami. "And you must be Miss Sato." He nodded, almost to himself. "I've heard a lot about the both of you."

"Who are you?" Asami demanded.

The man shrugged. "I've got a lot of names. But I suppose you can call me Aquarius."

Asami furrowed her brow. "Like the constellation?"

Aquarius shook his head, smiling like she'd just made a funny joke. "Yeah, sure."

Korra and Asami exchanged a glance, and with a sort of telepathy that they'd developed over the past eighteen months, they both straightened up.

"So…" Korra glanced awkwardly at Asami. "What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I came her to talk to you, Avatar," Aquarius said.

Immediately, Korra's expression snapped from awkward to suspicious. "Why?"

Aquarius sighed and walked past them, towards the Tree of Time. He stopped a few yards from where the spirits were still swirling around it and gazed up at the gnarled branches. Korra and Asami watched him warily.

He began, "As I'm sure you've noticed the spirits have been acting strange lately. They're panicked and frantic, like they know something bad is about to happen but they don't know how to stop it." He glanced backwards over his shoulder at the two of them. "And I know why."

Korra let out a loud breath beside Asami. Ever since the fist mob of frantic, panicked spirits they'd encountered, Korra had been trying to communicate with them. But all she had gotten in return were those indecipherable noises from before.

"Why?" the Avatar asked tensely.

Aquarius turned to face them. "Something is coming," he explained. "Or rather, _someone_. The spirits know who it is, and they have a right to be scared."

Korra's fingers curled into fists down by her sides. Asami had to resist the urge to reach out and grab her hand. "Who's coming?"

Aquarius shook his head. "I can't tell you. I've been sworn to secrecy." He paused. "At least…for now. But I can give you a clue that might be able to give you some answers."

Korra raised her eyebrows in a silent inquiry.

Aquarius crossed his arms and stared at the ground, chewing his bottom lip as he considered what to say. Then he looked back up and Asami was struck by the intensity of his eyes, like he was weighing the fate of the world on his next words.

"Kuvira."

Korra's eyes widened. "What?"

"Go visit Kuvira," Aquarius said. "Tell her about the spirits. Give her something to think on while she sits in that prison cell of hers."

Asami took a step forward, and despite herself, her voice came out harsh when she asked, "What does Kuvira have to do with this?"

Aquarius looked at her with glittering eyes. "You didn't think her story was over already, did you?"

Asami stopped and Korra stepped up next to her, putting her hand on her shoulder. She looked at Aquarius when she asked, "How do you know all this? Who _are _you?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you," Aquarius answered, looking truly regretful. "I'm sorry." He paused and looked back towards the Tree of Time and the mob of spirits surrounding it. Then he turned to face Asami and Korra completely. "Whatever you do, don't let Kuvira know you met me." He held up a hand to stop their questions. "Just don't. If nothing else, at least trust me on this."

Korra took a deep, steadying breath. "Okay."

Aquarius nodded like that satisfied him and turned away. "I have no doubt we'll see each other again before all of this is over," he said. Then his form faded away, back to where Asami knew his body was meditating somewhere in the physical realm.

Asami and Korra watched the surging crowd of spirits in silence for a moment. Then, Korra said, "We need to get back. As soon as possible."

Asami nodded in agreement. She definitely didn't like it, but it was the best chance they had at getting answers.

"Come on," Korra grabbed Asami's hand and the two of them walked towards the southern Spirit Portal.

* * *

"Are we ready?" Mako murmured lowly to the man beside him.

"Almost," he replied. "We're waiting for confirmation to move in from your brother and command."

Mako nodded and leaned his head back against the concrete wall. Currently, he and a unit of the Republic City Police Force were tucked against the side of a warehouse. After months of hard work, Mako had finally managed to pinpoint the base of the Terra Triad. They'd had an upsurge of activity recently, and with Mako assigned to the case, Lin had been confident they'd finally bust the triad. Now, all they were waiting for was the order to move in.  
Suddenly, someone slid into a squat beside Mako, and he nearly fried them until he realized who it was. "Well?" he demanded.

"We're all good," Bolin gasped, out of breath. "I covered all the exits. If they try to get away, they'll be driving right into a lava pit."

"Not to deep?" Mako had to make sure. "We need them alive."

Bolin glowered at him. "We've been over this a thousand times. Yes, they'll live if they get dumped in."

"Mako."

The detective turned back to the officer next to him, the commander of the unit accompanying Mako and Bolin in this bust. They'd worked with Commander Haku and his unit several times before and by now, Mako trusted them more than any other in the force. The commander nodded to Mako that he'd gotten the call. They were ready.

Mako elbowed Bolin and the two of them snuck around to the front of the warehouse, where they crouched on either side of the large closed doors. They'd done this exact thing a countless number of times in the past year and a half, and when Haku nodded at them, their moves were fluid and practiced.

Bolin slammed the warehouse doors open with a heave of earth and Mako dove inside, sending flames out in every direction. He heard yells and knew he'd made contact with at least a few of the triad's men. When he rolled to his feet, several of them were laying groaning on the ground. A few others were ducking behind the stacks of boxes that were strewn about the warehouse. That was just near the front entrance. Hundreds of men and women froze with boxes in hand to stare at Mako.

"It's the Detective Brothers!"

In one mass flurry of movement, boxes crashed to the ground as the triad scattered like a flock of startled birds. They poured out of the niches and holes in the walls, but Mako knew Haku's unit from all of their times working together, and he was confident they would catch each escapee if Bolin's lava traps didn't.

Mako spotted movement out of the corner of his eye and dove to the side just as a boulder slammed into the space he'd just been standing in. He leaped to his feet but Bolin had already moved in and taken the earthbender out. The man was laying at his brother's feet, unconscious.

"Thanks, bro," Mako said.

Bolin turned towards him. "You need to be more careful. If I wasn't covering you for this past year, you'd be..." He trailed off mid-sentence, his eyes widening as his gaze caught on something behind Mako. Wordlessly, he lifted his arm and pointed. Mako turned and felt all the air whoosh out of his lungs.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bolin asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah," Mako replied breathlessly.

Just then, Haku came rushing in. "Mako, we got 'em all. Bolin's pit stopped the gamble ring from escaping again. We're rounding them up now." He stopped and took in their faces. He turned to look at what they were staring at and his eyes widened.

"Haku," Mako told the commander. "Get the chief down here. She needs to see this."

* * *

The Republic City chief of police stood staring at the back wall of the warehouse, feet planted wide and her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"You were right to call me Mako," Lin grumbled. "This is…" She didn't finish her sentence, simply sighing and running a hand through her hair. Beside her, the two detective brothers shuffled on their feet. Bolin glanced up at the wall and suppressed an ominous shiver.

Painted onto the back wall, so large it covered nearly the entire wall was a red circle with petals around the edges: the symbol of the Red Lotus.

Lin grumbled, "And here I was thinking we'd have an easy week." She rubbed the back of her neck and groaned, turning to face the rest of the warehouse. Boxes were being opened and checked for explosive and other weapons before being loaded into the evidence trucks. Outside, officers were still logging triad members and shoving them into the cage trucks. The leaders had been loaded up and logged into the station hours ago.

"Haku!" Lin yelled, her voice booming across the warehouse.

The commander ducked around from a nearby stack of crates. "Chief?" he inquired.

"Make sure you get the ring leaders into interrogation as soon as possible. We need to find out why they're working with the Red Lotus."

Haku paused, "Um…no offense, chief, but I don't really have the jurisdiction to do that. Mako's in charge of this project."

"Not anymore." Lin dismissed him easily. "From here on out, I'm leaving this one in your hands."

"Wait, what?" Mako's eyes went wide. He stared at Lin.

Lin nodded firmly at Haku. "Get to the station and take care of that."

Haku swallowed hard, eyes darting to Mako, then to Lin. He saluted to Lin and then turned on his heel, marching out of the open warehouse doors.

"Um…chief?" Mako said tentively. Bolin twiddled his thumbs silently. Wherever he and Mako went, they went together, and the last time Bolin had said something to the chief of police, they'd ended up in a pile of dead fish on the dock. Ever since, he'd preferred to stay silent in this kind of situation.

Lin ignored them both, turning to gaze up at the Red Lotus symbol on the warehouse wall. She was silent for a long moment before murmuring, "What to gain?"

"What?" Mako asked.

"Well, _think_, Mako," Lin said, sounding frustrated. "The Red Lotus is a terrorist organization. The try to stay under the radar, to ensure they leave no trail behind them wherever they go or whatever they do until it's time for an attack, so we can't predict what they're about to do. They must have known the triad was in danger of being busted. They always are. So why leave a huge sign on their main warehouse that points _right to them?_"

Mako paused, rubbing his face as he considered her words. Beside him, Bolin bit his lip. "I thought we took down the Red Lotus," the earthbender said.

"You mean Zaheer and the others?" Lin shook her head. "They were only a single branch of the Red Lotus. I assume there were considered rogues after their capture and that's why they worked solo. Regardless, there are a lot more members, though we don't know exactly how many. At least hundreds, if not thousands. Those four were only the tip of the iceberg. And if the Red Lotus has managed to recruit the triads…" She trailed off, dreading silence replacing her words.

"But we wouldn't know they were working with the triad if it weren't for this." Mako motioned to the red symbol on the warehouse wall. "They've given us a huge clue as to what they're doing, and that's dangerous for the secrecy of their next mission. So why put it there? And so obviously, no less?"

Lin's eyes narrowed. "Unless they want us to see it," she murmured.

Mako's eyes widened. "What?"

Lin turned towards the two brothers. "I have a new mission for you two. It's going to take you out of the city and you'll need to keep it quiet. No bragging. This will be a matter of international security. You think you're up for it?"

Bolin and Mako exchanged a glance. In one moment, an entire conversation passed between them. Then the two brothers looked back Lin and nodded firmly.

"Good." Lin crossed her arms. "Then pack up. You're leaving tomorrow morning. I'll brief you both tonight. Once I do that, there's no turning back, do you understand?"

"Whatever you need, chief," Bolin replied. Mako nodded his agreement.

Lin put her hands on their shoulders. "Then go home. I'll see you two in my office tonight."

* * *

"Hey, food?"

"Thank you, Katsu," Kuvira panted, arms trembling. "Yes. Just leave it there."

"It's on a tray today," Katsu replied. "You know I'm not allowed to do that."

Kuvira huffed, irritated, but unfortunately, the young man was right. She let her feet down off her mattress and lowered herself down to the floor. Then she stood, and as was per usual, turned to face the back wall of her cell, lacing her hands behind her head. Behind her, she heard the slot built into the floor of her cell slide open as Katsu slid the food through it. After he slid it closed, Kuvira lowered her arms and turned to face him, eyebrows raised.

Katsu nodded. There was a wooden tray tucked beneath his right arm. "Go ahead."

Kuvira nodded in kind and made her way across the cell to sit cross-legged on the floor in front of her food, a wooden bowl of mixed rice, stale bread, and fatty meat. It was the leftover rations, so the slightly foul state of the two meals she received every day never really surprised her.

"I don't understand," Katsu said as he watched her scoop the slimy mix into her mouth. Kuvira briefly wondered if they'd still have a guard watch her eat when she was sixty, but she raised her eyebrows at Katsu over the rim of her bowl for him go on.

"You were just doing push-ups," Katsu said, brow furrowed beneath his helm "You're going to be here for the rest of your life. There's really no need to stay in shape. So, why do you still work out like that?"

Kuvira didn't answer at first. She finished her meal and set the bowl down before the platinum bars of her cell. She gazed up at Katsu from her position seated on the floor. He was in his younger twenties, around Korra's age. Though it was invisible to her at the moment, Kuvira knew he had shaggy black hair hidden beneath his helm and the golden eyes of a firebender. She knew the guard's face by heart. She'd been staring at it for the past year.

"It's a habit," Kuvira finally answered as she stood and turned to make her way back to the opposite end of her cell. "I've been doing it almost all of my life. Plus, it keeps me busy. I have nothing else to do in this place." She motioned to her surroundings, a fifteen foot platinum cube with three solid walls and one of platinum bars. Then she stepped up to the back wall and laced her fingers behind her head.

The slot slid in and out, along with her empty bowl. "Makes sense," Katsu mused. There was a short pause before the young man said, "Yao is upset with me, so I can't stay. I'll see you tomorrow with your next meal."

Kuvira nodded and heard his footsteps echo across walls. Outside the single wall of bars of her cell was another room of solid platinum walls, a second layer of sorts with a single doorway leading in and out. It squealed open and closed as Katsu left.

"You really are lucky."

Kuvira whirled around and nearly kicked out where the voice had come from before stopping herself at the last moment. She immediately calmed when she realized who had spoken. "Why do you say that?" she asked.

Mamoru shrugged from his spot where he was seated on her mattress. "You got stuck with that guy Katsu for your guard, at least for a while," he elaborated. "He's probably the nicest guard here. You could've been stuck with Yao…"

Kuvira fingered the ragged ends of her hair, jaw tightening at the notion that she might have been stuck with Yao any longer than necessary. It had just grown long enough for her to start pinning it into a bun again. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Kuvira placed her palms on the floor and lowered herself down to her stomach. "When did you get here?" she asked to change the subject.

Mamoru shrugged again. "About five minutes ago. Give or take."

Kuvira nodded, propping her feet up on the mattress beside Mamoru. Katsu hadn't noticed the blonde man inside the cell with her, but Kuvira wasn't surprised. As a normal person, he would be hard to miss. He had the lean, muscular build of a fighter, and unnatural red eyes and pale skin that Kuvira attributed to the fact that he was supposedly a spirit. Not to mention he was in the cell with her. But ever since he had first appeared eight months ago, Katsu hadn't noticed him once, no matter how attentive the man seemed. Neither did any of the other guards.

Kuvira was the only one who knew Mamoru was there. She was the only one who saw him and the only one who heard him. Kuvira had wondered several times if she was going crazy. Even if she was, did it matter? Crazy or not, she wasn't getting out of this cell, and that was as it should be, she supposed..

"Well, Mamoru," she puffed, starting her push-ups again. "Stay as long as you want."

Mamoru barked a slight laugh. "As usual?"

"As usual."

* * *

"_One and the same."_

* * *

**So as I'm starting this story in a busy time, the updates are going to be slow. Just a warning in advance. And yes, don't worry. There will much more Kuvira and much more explanation of what's going on.**


	2. Debrief

Chapter 2

Debrief

* * *

"_We are two sides of the same coin, you and I."_

* * *

"We're here to see the chief."

The secretary looked up at Mako and Bolin, taking in their uniforms and badges. She nodded across the room to the closed door and blinds. "She's waiting for you two in her office."

Mako nodded his thanks and he and Bolin made their way towards Lin's office. Despite their discreteness, several of the night shift officers were staring at them and sharing suspicious glances.

"Um…Mako?" Bolin muttered to his brother. "Why are they all staring at us?"

Mako cast a glare throughout the room. "I don't know," he replied lowly.

Mako opened the door to Lin's office and Bolin hurried through, eager to be away from the gazes of all the officers.

"Close the door," Lin told Mako, and he did. Then he turned and stopped in his tracks.

The chief's office was dimly lit, the blinds all closed and the lamp on her desk the only source of light. Stacks of paper were strewn about the room, but there was only one file dead center on her desk. Lin sat behind her desk, and just to her right sat none other than President Raiko.

Mako quickly snapped into a salute. Beside him, Bolin nearly stumbled over his own feet in an attempt to do the same.

"At ease," Raiko sighed, waving at the two chairs opposite of him and Lin. "Have a seat."

They sat, Bolin fidgeting awkwardly. Mako leaned forward. "No offense, sir, but chief, why is the president here?"

"I told you this was going to be a matter of international security," she told him.

Mako and Bolin exchanged a look, paling.

"Before we start, I need you two to know something." Lin leaned forward and steepled her fingers on her desk. "What we're about to tell you, you can't share with anyone that isn't a national leader. If you do, I'll be required by international law to hang a bounty and manhunt over your heads. _That_ is how serious this is, and this is your only warning, your last chance. Walk out that door, and you can leave this case for good."

Mako and Bolin looked each other in the eye, remembering the symbol on the warehouse wall, so similar to the one that had nearly destroyed their best friend's life. Then, they both faced forward.

"No," Mako said firmly. "We're here to stay."

Lin nodded and then flipped open the single file in front of her, sliding it across the desk to Mako and Bolin. The two brothers scanned the papers within and looked up at Lin with wide eyes.

"We've been finding more and more traces of the Red Lotus across the world," Lin began, nodding down at the file. "Ever since Zaheer murdered the Earth Queen, we've been finding connections everywhere. It seems they're concentrated in the Earth Kingdom, and we believe they've taken advantage of the unrest these past four years to increase their numbers throughout the continent."

President Raiko leaned forward. "As you know, Prince Wu has only very recently managed to establish the Earth Kingdom governmental council and the summit next week is only the second." He paused for one grave second. "The Earth Kingdom is finally reaching true stability for the first time in four years. Our fear is that the Red Lotus will move to end the progress Wu and the council have made already. If the government crumbles again, the kingdom may never be able to fully recover."

Lin picked up again after him. "So while the Red Lotus is spread across the globe, our main concern at the moment is their whereabouts in the Earth Kingdom."

"Alright," Mako said slowly, taking all that in. "Do we have a trail yet?"

Lin nodded, tapping her finger on the open file. "We requested info from the Terra Triad members in exchange that they not be associated with the Red Lotus in their prosecution." At Bolin's skeptical look, she smiled grimly. "I know, but regardless, they'll be spending a long time in prison.

"Anyways, what we gathered from the leaders is that they'd set up a trade between a few warehouses here in the city and back in Ba Sing Se, and as far as we know, the Triad has had very little contact with the higher-ups of the Red Lotus. We've been given the export location but we know for a fact it isn't the final location. It's only a pick-up spot. We need you two to find the final drop-off."

Mako hesitated. "Chief…that's like finding a needle in a haystack."

Lin nodded. "Normally, we wouldn't bother because of the size of Ba Sing Se, but you both saw the symbol in that warehouse. She nodded at the file. "We've been finding those all over the capital, mostly around the Lower Ring."

Bolin gaped. "You mean…that wasn't the first one?"

"It was the first one we've found within Republic City," President Raiko replied. "But we've been finding them in Ba Sing Se for months."

"But," Lin cut in. "Like I told you before, they're being too obvious, like they want us to know they're here."

"Breathing over our shoulder," Mako muttered, and his brother gave him a strange look, but Lin only nodded.

"Right," she agreed. "Because of that, I want you two to be at your best. Don't let your guard down, because we may be sending you right into a trap. But together, I trust you the most to get the job done."

Bolin faked a sniffle and Lin shot a glare at him.

"The rest of the info you need is in that file," she continued after a moment of withering silence. "There's several alternate identification cards just in case and a paper in their for your temporary house. We're also providing you plenty of currency pieces you can pick up at the front desk before you leave."

Sensing this debrief was coming to a close, Mako and Bolin stood, followed by the president and chief of Republic City.

"We won't let you down, chief," Mako said.

"I know," Lin replied. "But just in case, be careful, boys. I don't want body bags the next time I see you two."

They nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

President Raiko reached out and shook their hands. "You young men are very brave. I'm honored to have such detectives working in my city. Come back alive, you two."

"Of course, sir," Mako answered. "We wouldn't have it any other way."

Walking out of that office, neither of them had any clue what they were about to head into.

* * *

"Hey!"

Kuvira opened her eyes and looked across her cell to where Yao stood on the other side of the bars. Behind him, Katsu stood at the door of the platinum room beyond, arms crossed.

"Get up," Yao commanded gruffly, scarred and bearded face pulled into his usual scowl. "You have a visitor."

Kuvira wordlessly stood from her mattress and made her way towards the bars, keeping a wary gaze on Yao the entire time. She slowly stretched her arms forward through the gaps in the bars. Yao pulled the handcuffs off his belt and clapped them onto Kuvira's wrists, winding them down tight enough that they bit hard into her skin. Yao turned away and Kuvira grimaced, leaning backwards so the chains of her handcuffs were taut against the front of the bars.

Katsu opened the door and leaned out. "Come on in," he said to whoever was outside. Then he put his back to the wall as Yao stepped up beside him, thumbs hooked in his belt, as if Kuvira would actually have a chance of getting out of her cell.

Katsu opened the door wide enough to let her visitor through, and in walked…

"Korra," Kuvira said, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "What a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

"It's been three months," Korra chuckled in reply. She was balancing a wooden tray with steaming cups in her arms, waiting patiently by the door as Katsu closed it and the guards locked it on both sides. When the young man nodded, Korra finally came forward. She set the tray before the bars of her cell and sat cross-legged behind it. Kuvira lowered herself into the same position, metal scraping against metal as her handcuffs slid down the bars.

"I brought in platinum cups this time," Korra said, sounding exasperated as she slid one of the cups into Kuvira's cuffed hands outside the bars. "But they still insisted I use the wooden ones."

Kuvira shrugged, leaning forward to take a sip of tea through the bars. "They're picky about metal and wood here."

Korra snorted. "I noticed." She took up her own cup of tea and slid the tray to the side. "So how's it been in here?"

Kuvira shrugged again. "Same as usual. Empty. Boring. I'm getting by." She cocked an eyebrow at Korra. "How about you? Have you and Asami finished your vacation?"

Korra blew out a breathy laugh. "Finally, yeah. Took us a while, but it was fun. I really enjoyed it, and we didn't even have to go all the way to one of the poles on the way in, so good job with that."

Kuvira smirked even as she felt a painful twang in her chest. "I can't take all the credit."

Korra grinned and sipped from her tea. They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Kuvira eventually broke it.

"How is the Earth Kingdom coming along?" She asked, an anxious note finding its way into her voice.

Korra's face softened. "It's getting along just fine. The Earth Council's second summit is next week. Things are looking up again."

Kuvira nodded, relaxing a little at that information. Then she narrowed her eyes as Korra inhaled sharply.

"Actually," the Avatar said. "I need to ask you something."

Kuvira warily nodded for her to go on.

"When we made that portal, did you see anything? Feel anything at all?"

Kuvira cocked an eyebrow at her. "I blacked out, Korra. All I remember is waking up in the Spirit World."

Korra shifted uneasily. "Right."

Kuvira frowned at her. "If you wouldn't mind my asking, why?"

Korra gazed at her for a moment and nodded. Then she told Kuvira about the spirits' strange behavior, the mobs she and Asami had seen and the unease that was practically tangible in the air of the Spirit World.

"I tried to ask them what was wrong every time they mobbed like that," she continued. "But all they would say is your name. So…" She spread her arms to encompass the room. "Here I am."

Kuvira shook her head, lost. "I have no idea why any of that is happening."

"Well…" Korra shifted to get more comfortable. "What about more recently? Any weird feelings? Any visits from spirits?"

"No one is allowed in here without papers," Yao grunted.

Korra twisted around to look at him. "Spirits don't live under the same laws as the rest of us," she told him.

Kuvira carefully sipped her tea, keeping her expression blank. Behind her, she heard Mamoru shift, but she figured he'd been there for a few minutes now, silently listening. He tended to keep silent whenever she was speaking to someone else.

After a moment, she said, "No, I don't believe I have had anything like that."

Korra sighed into her cup. "Great," she grumbled. "And here I was thinking I might get a break."

Kuvira snorted dubiously, earning a grin from Korra.

"Speaking of which, how is it going between you and Asami?" Kuvira asked.

A blush almost immediately spread across Korra's cheeks. "Oh, you know…" she cleared her throat. "It's- I mean, it's going okay."

Kuvira raised her eyebrows. "Okay? Details, Korra."

The Avatar narrowed her eyes at her. "When did you become so interested in my love life?"

Kuvira shrugged. "I have to keep myself amused somehow."

Korra shook her head with a small smile. After a moment, she said, "It's…good. Great, actually. She makes me really happy."

"Have you kissed her yet?"

Korra's face turned a mortified shade of red. "N- no! I- no. Of course not."

Kuvira had to smile at her reaction. "Its been a year and half, Korra," she said,. "You don't need to act so shocked."

"You're one to talk!" the Avatar exclaimed. "It took three years for you and Baatar to-" Korra clamped her mouth shut, blanching, but the damage had been done. Kuvira set down her empty cup and leaned back, all traces of a smile gone.

"Sorry," Korra said, staring down at her hands.

There was silence between them again, this time not so comfortable. After a long time, Yao grumbled, "Visiting hours end in a few minutes."

Korra sighed and nodded, not looking back at him. She gazed at Kuvira a moment, then said, "If it helps any, they're all doing fine. I met with the airbenders the other day and Opal told me Zaofu was in good shape." Her face softened. "All of them are moving forward, even…" She trailed off, not needing to say his name.

Kuvira nodded. "Thank you, Korra." She met the Avatar's eyes and forced a smile. "It was good seeing you, but I'm thinking you'll need to leave soon."

The Avatar raised her eyebrows. "Kicking me out?"

Kuvira really did smile now. "Not my choice."

Korra grunted as she got to her feet with the tray in hand. "I know." She offered Kuvira a slightly sad smile. "Ill be back in another month or two."

Kuvira nodded. "Goodbye, Korra."

"Bye, Kuvira." The Avatar turned as Katsu unlocked the door and slipped through. Yao roughly yanked off the cuffs and followed after her, leaving red sores on Kuvira's wrists. Katsu stopped at the threshold to gaze back at her.

"See you tomorrow with your breakfast," he said, and closed the door behind himself as he stepped out and locked it behind him.

Kuvira stood and stretched, turning to face Mamoru. He was sitting on the floor in the back corner of the cell, looking incredibly comfortable despite his position. "How much did you hear?" Kuvira asked him.

"Enough." Mamoru watched her carefully as she lay back down the mattress. "Why didn't you tell her about me?"

Kuvira bit her lip. "I don't even know if you're real," she told him. "For all I know, you're just a figment of my imagination, and I'm getting crazier by the day."

"I told you this already," Mamoru said, sounding slightly insulted. "I'm real, just as real as you. I'm just not all the way here in this world. I'm a spirit."

"But _why _are you here?" Kuvira ground out, glaring up at the ceiling.

Mamoru didn't say anything for a long time, and Kuvira almost thought he had faded away, but then he said, "You still have it."

Kuvira looked over at him. "What?"

Mamoru motioned to her neck. "The ring. You still have it."

Kuvira's hand wandered up to the chain around her neck, a platinum ring strung on it. Normally, the guards would never allow such a thing into the facility, but it was all made of pure platinum and the chain was thin enough it would break as soon as someone so much as tugged on it. Plus, Kuvira had laid even her pride down to keep it. After all, it was her engagement ring.

"I do," was all Kuvira said to Mamoru, turning onto her side so her back was to him.

"Why? You know he won't be back-"

"I _know _that," Kuvira said, a little too quickly. "But it's a reminder."

"Of what?" Mamoru sounded genuinely confused.

Kuvira squeezed her eyes shut. "Of what I had to do, what I'll always have to do. And why."

* * *

"_One and the same."_

* * *

**Next chapter will begin the explanation of what happened immediately following the Day of the Collosus.**


	3. The Empire Trials: Part 1

Chapter 3

The Empire Trials Part 1

* * *

"_We are two sides of the same coin, you and I."_

* * *

**18 MONTHS AGO…**

_"What are you waiting for? Get on with it."_

_ Kuvira turned away from the female guard to look at the clothes folded up on the wooden table. She'd seen nothing but wood and platinum since she'd been hustled into the special metalbender prison facility on the outskirts of Republic City. As soon as she'd gotten there, the guards had stripped off her every bit of metal, leaving her in only her green uniform. Now, she stood in the center of this room, as disheveled and handcuffed as she'd been two hours ago when she surrendered. Three guards stood opposite of her, waiting for her to change, the anger and impatience evident in their faces._

_ "Come on, let's go!" the same woman barked._

_ Kuvira complied, stripping off her boots and pants and slipping on the dull breaches on the table. But now she was faced with her shirt and cuffed wrists, and she paused, but none of the guards moved to help. Kuvira reached for the back of her shirt collar, ignoring the pain that stabbed through her ribs. She pulled it up over her head, then stepped on it to pull it over her arms. Next came the gloves, and then the drab gray tunic slipped back on._

_ As soon as she was finished, the guards grabbed her like she might disappear at a moment's notice. Two others joined them as they propelled her down so many wooden halls she lost track of where they were going. Finally, they shoved her into a large wooden cube, one she knew was reserved for solitary confinement since there was not a single gap in the wood. They shut the thick wooden door, throwing the room into darkness._

_ Kuvira collapsed against the far wall with a tired groan. Her body pounded with fatigue and knives of pain were prodding at her ribs and right leg. She__ lifted up the hem of her shirt with her cuffed hands and prodded at her side, wincing at the lance of pain and the bumps jutting from her skin. Definitely broken with the possibility of puncturing a lung. Kuvira pulled her shirt back down and tried to move as little as possible._

_ It was a while later before the door opened and she was dragged back out. More wooden halls before she was pushed into another, smaller wooden box, this one with a shower overhead. Kuvira stiffened as ice-cold water rained down on her, rinsing her filth and blood down the drain in the floor. After a solid ten minutes, she was pulled out from underneath the torrent of water and returned to her cell, still soaking wet. She again sat against the wall on the floor, shivering inside her wet clothes. Despite the cold, she must have fallen asleep, because what seemed like moments later, rough hands were shaking her awake, pulling her up onto her feet and out of the cube before she could gain her bearings. Soon enough, she found herself in a white hall that smelled of bleach and was very brightly lit, but of course, still made of wood._

_ "Over here." A dark-skinned woman waved them over and Kuvira identified her as Water Tribe, through whether Northern or Southern, she wasn't sure._

_ The guards hustled her over to the medical table the woman had pointed out and strapped Kuvira down, pulling her hands above her head to strap her arms above her. She couldn't stop the hiss of pain that escaped from between her teeth at the motion._

_ "I'm this facility's healer," the Water Tribe woman said, sitting down on a wooden chair beside the table. "All I'm going to do is check you for any wounds and heal them if I deem it necessary. Do you understand?"_

_ Kuvira managed a nod and the woman reached out and pulled up her shirt. When she saw the ribs bulging from Kuvira's stomach, a shadow passed over her face. She swept a quick glower around the circle of guards, which had grown to a number of six. Then she reached for something beside her. Kuvira heard something uncork, and a moment later, the woman was pulling a flow of water through the air. She placed her hands over Kuvira's broken ribs and the water began to glow. Kuvira breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her bones beginning to ease back into place._

_ "You should have brought her to me earlier," the healer told the guards angrily as she worked. "One of these ribs was dangerously close to puncturing a lung."_

_ None of the guards answered her, and one of them shrugged as if to say, "What'd you gonna do?" The woman continued working in angry silence. Once she had finished with Kuvira's ribs, she moved down to her right leg, where a deep gash had opened up from her knee to hip. She healed this as well before deeming the rest of her scrapes and bruises as survivable. She dismissed them, still glaring at the guards as they unstrapped her and wrestled her out of the room._

* * *

_ Kuvira lost track of time in the wooden darkness of her cell, punctuated only by irregular meals that were few and far between. Eventually, the guards brought in two buckets, one for drinking water and another to serve as her toilet. She had considered herself to have a good innate sense of time, but it was difficult to say how long she'd been here when her life had become dark as the night._

_ She thought it was about a week later when the guards came for her again. They pulled her up and out of her cell. The dim light of the halls assaulted her eyes after so long in complete darkness, and her limbs were shaky from malnourishment._

_ They dragged her down more wooden halls that soon turned to platinum ones. She lost track of the number of times they turned, but eventually they came to a large platinum room. One of them opened the door, and within, built into the back wall of the room was another platinum room with bars. They shoved her inside and locked the barred door behind her. Then they moved out of the room and closed the other door too._

_ Kuvira turned to take in her new cell. A dim light was built into the ceiling of the outside room, illuminating her cell just enough for her to see. Built into the left wall was a platinum frame with a thin mattress and blanket on it. In either back corner was a chair and toilet, both of which were bolted to the floor._

_ "Home sweet home," Kuvira muttered._

_ No sooner had she sat on the bed when the outside door squealed open once more. A thickly bearded man poked his head through and looked around as if to check that no one was there. Then he motioned behind himself and stepped towards Kuvira's cell. Five other men quickly filed in and Kuvira stood when they closed it behind them._

_ "Can I help you?" she asked warily._

_ "Actually," The first man waved his keys at her and casually unlocked the door to her cell. "I think you can." He opened the barred door and motioned to her. "Come on out."_

_ Kuvira didn't move. "I'm afraid I can't do that," she told him. "I'm already walking on thin ice as it is. I'm sorry, but I think you'll need to consult the initial guards first." She kept her expression calm, but her mind was racing. She knew what was coming next._

_ The men exchanged a look. Then, with a curt nod from the first one, two of them moved forward and grabbed Kuvira's biceps, shoving her forward. Desperate, Kuvira lifted her feet off the ground and hooked her legs on the bars. Her rib may have been healed but the stretched muscles were still some, and her side complained in earnest._

_ When the two men holding her failed to get her off the bars, the other three came forward to pry off her legs. Kuvira twisted, trying to get free, but they had her off the ground now and she had no traction._

_ They slammed her backwards against the solid platinum wall of the outside room. When the bearded man moved forward from the cell door, Kuvira swung her now-free legs up, catching one of the others around the neck and throwing him to the floor, nearly taking the feet out from underneath yet another. The bearded man slammed his elbow into her stomach before she could get her knees back down, and she choked, her legs giving out._

_ "Grab her, you idiots! Grab her!"_

_ The two guards holding her arms pressed her legs against the wall with their own. The one she'd taken down stood with a groan, glaring at her._

_ "You just made this a whole lot worse for yourself," the bearded man snarled. When he pulled a knife from his tunic, Kuvira's eyes widened and she tucked her chin, but she knew she was just delaying the inevitable._

"_Yao," the guard on Kuvira's right warned. "You can't kill her. We-"_

"_I'm not going to kill her," the bearded man, snapped back. Then he reached forward, and Kuvira jerked her head to bite his wrist, but he managed to get a grip on her hair, and then he was pulling her head forward. Her neck was screaming in pain. She felt his knife sawing at her hair, and before she knew it, her head was banging back against he wall, now covered in only ragged black stubble._

_Kuvira made eyes contact with Yao, gaze venomous. "Damn you," she spat._

_Yao grinned, shoving his knife back into his belt and letting her hair drop to the floor. "We're not even done yet," he said._

_He made a fist and smashed it into Kuvira's jaw, sending stars across her vision. The other three guards that weren't holding her down moved forward and started in on her too. There were stabs of pain everywhere and Kuvira felt the blows. Fists, boots, knees, and elbows. After a couple minutes, her ears started buzzing, and the two guards holding her against the wall let go. It wasn't until she was on the floor that she realized they had actually been holding her up._

_Then they were on all sides of her and Kuvira curled in on herself, knees and cuffed hands pulling in. After that, it was hard to think much at all._

* * *

_ Kuvira rose from unconsciousness just long enough for them to drag her across the floor and into the center of her cell. She heard the door slam shut and the key turn in the lock. Then Yao's voice snarled, "That's for our brothers and sisters. You had this coming after everything you've done."_

_ Kuvira heard a door slam, and couldn't move. A sob rose up in her throat, but she hurt too much to let it out. She pushed it back down, refusing to let it resurface. She knew she had done this to herself, and there was nothing left to cry over._

_She no longer had anyone to yearn for or a home to miss._

* * *

**PRESENT**

Bolin stared out the window at the passing countryside. Beside him, Mako was flipping through the file that Lin had handed to them before they left her office.

"This is insane," Mako muttered. Bolin inquired him with a look, and he explained, "They've been finding these things all over Ba Sing Se and they're just now sending us in there." He glanced up at his brother. "I don't like the sound of this."

Bolin shrugged. "She did say they weren't sure if it was a trap or not."

"Still…" Mako leaned back in his seat. "I have a feeling they're only doing this now is because of the summit."

Bolin punched him in the shoulder. "After everything, and _now _you're finally getting scared?"

Mako glared at him. "I'm not scared," he grumbled.

Bolin raised an eyebrow at him and then laced his hands behind his head. "We got this, Mako. I mean, come on! We help the Avatar save the world and Republic City a couple times, and now the entire city calls us the Detective Brothers. We have a reputation! If we can do that, we can do this too."

Mako shook his head with a small smile and closed the file, setting it on the seat beside him. He glanced around the all but empty maglev train. It was getting dark out, and those who were still on the train were beginning to stretch across the seats to sleep out the night.

After picking up their currency, passports, and tickets from the mission desk, the two brothers had grabbed their bags and caught the first train to Ba Sing Se. Though they'd made a few drop-off stops along the way, the rest of the ride was straight on for the rest of the night.

"You know," Bolin said, still gazing out the window despite the growing darkness. "After everything that happened, I thought the Earth Kingdom would never get better again. I mean, even before Zaheer killed the Earth Queen, it wasn't very well off the begin with. And then all that stuff with Kuvira…" He took a deep breath. "It just seems weird that things might actually be getting better after so long."

Mako nodded. "I guess that's why the chief sent us. It's our job to make sure the Red Lotus doesn't try anything like that again. We can't let them mess this up after Wu and the council have made so much progress."

The fallout after Kuvira's surrender had been a confusing mess. The Earth Empire army, the majority of which had marched to Republic City with her, had all but disappeared by the time United Forces marched their way across the continent to Ba Sing Se. Unfortunately, just like when Zaheer had murdered the Earth Queen, the bandits and criminals that had been lying low since the beginning of her rule took the opportunity to steal, murder, and overall bring yet more chaos. Unlike three years before, though, the general population was not so eager for the violence. They had become tired of it after three years of playing hunter or hunted. Sorting between the violent and the peaceful citizens had been hard enough for the United Forces. Add in the prisoners from Kuvira's labor camps, and the world leaders had their hands full.

Mako and Bolin themselves had escorted Wu back to Ba Sing Se after the United Forces stabilized the city before returning back to Republic City and starting their new careers as the first sibling detective pair in the city. Over the course of the year, though, they'd had constant updates. It took just over a year for the kingdom to be stabilized once more with jointed help from the United Forces, the Air Nation, and the forces of Zaofu. Wu had spent the next four months building a completely new government, organizing delegates and leaders and a new army. Finally, he'd managed the first summit for the newly created Earth Kingdom Council, led by himself and made of the heads of each city-state in the kingdom. That had been unprecedented, the signing of the Constitution of the Earth Council and the official creation of the Earth Kingdom's new government. Only now was the council meeting again.

And it was up to Mako and Bolin to make sure it didn't end in disaster.

"Hey," Bolin said, pulling Mako out of his thoughts. "Loosen up, Mako. Like I said, we got this." Right after he said that, he yawned, stretching his arms above his head. "Whelp, he said. "Since you'll probably be up all night worrying, I'm gonna go to sleep and get enough rest for the both of us." With that, he wadded his jacket up and tucked it beneath his head, lying back on the seat.

Mako leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling of the maglev car. He was confident the two of them were fully capable of solving this case and finding the final drop-off location. But no matter how much he tried, Mako couldn't shake the chill that had settled over him when he first saw the symbol on that wall. All he could think about was how long it had taken Korra to recover from that disaster and how that might just happen again if they weren't careful.

Mako looked down at the file beside him. Inside were the dozens of cases of those symbols around Ba Sing Se and the signs that the group was all over the kingdom, moving around right under the Earth Council's noses. Mako had a feeling that the Red Lotus wasn't too happy about the new government.

Mako grunted and leaned his head back again, an ironic smile tugging at his lips. Not even a bodyguard, and he was still protecting Wu.

"Hey Mako?"

"Yeah?" Mako prompted his brother.

A pause. "Does the Red Lotus scare you?"

Mako didn't answer for a second. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, Bolin. They do scare me. Way more than you know."

* * *

_"One and the same."_


End file.
